I've had my fill of "reality" shows, but this one was fascinating and informative. At least we still have PBS's Finding Your Roots. Hopefully, that won't be canceled.

Last edited Fri May 25, 2012, 08:15 PM - Edit history (1)

or was the episode particularly "bad"?

and hopefully will never see her again. She must be the most annoying person on television.

The episode wasn't all that great either. They spent most of it on one branch and Deen's gushing over these people was hard to watch.

She acted like she'd never heard of slavery (quick - you find out that your ancestor is a "Planter" with $36,000 in property on the 1850 census in Georgia - what do you think most of the wealth on the plantation is? She had to have it explained to her and then acted shocked) and cried when she found out that one of her ancestors' son was killed in the Civil War... I didn't want to be annoyed, because I know a lot of that stuff is emotional (it was touching when Lisa Kudrow stood near her ancestors grave in Kiev.. it was annoying when Paula Deen acted like these people would still be alive if it was for their early deaths... it was like 150 years ago!!)

I don't like her much either because I think she could be a better spokesperson for people with Diabetes and I feel that she just reinforced the stereotype that all people with Type 2 Diabetes are over eaters with no self-control - I have Type 2 Diabetes and I'm 155 lbs - 5' 11"... so on the low end of my perfect weight range, but I get crap all the time because people act like I'm Paula Deen and "I don't look like I have Diabetes".

But I watched the show anyway because I like Genealogy...but it was just annoying and not fun.

I was really short on sympathy when the judge/planter committed suicide later in life, but Deen was so sad for him being he'd lost his son in the war, etc. Not a bit of compassion for the many slaves the man had owned though. She came across as completely clueless.

This was the only episode that really disliked. My favorite was Martin Sheen. Rita Wilson's story moved me to tears when she found out about her father's life before she was born.

or not too bright. That part seemed really insincere. Anyone of her age with five generations of white roots in the South ought to have some thought of the possibility of slave owners on the family tree.

All my colonial ancestors were Northerners and even *I* have a many times ggrandfather who owned a slave in Boston before slavery was outlawed there.

I talked to my parents and my father's paternal line all came from Louisiana and Texas (moved to California during the Depression in 1935). I knew pretty much from then what I might find. It turns out that they did own slaves in Louisiana and Texas. I don't like that much, but I knew it was a possibility, so when I found them on the slave schedules - I was saddened a little, but not shocked.

i know that one branch of my father's maternal family had roots first in virginia and then kentucky back to the revolutionary war. they owned land and businesses, and my 3rd gg father was a judge, so they had a little cash. they also fought on the confederate side of the civil war. there were also black families with the same (fairly uncommon) last name, so it was pretty evident that some family members were slave owners. sad, but true this line is the only one from the south, but now you've peaked my curiosity about whether some northern kin were slave owners as well...

because there weren't that many in New England even before they made it illegal. Most of my early lines here achieved passage as indentured servants and few seemed to have much success here.

However, one thing we all learn when digging for our roots is that there WILL be surprises.

both good and bad, that make genealogy such a fascinating hobby. Of course, sometimes I wonder if there might be more sinister stories that we don't find, because some black sheep were swept under the rug by family years ago or in many cases, just flat out lied about them.

i also had several in my lineage. a couple of gg parents were naughty and skipped out on their servitude. they met on the ship coming from ireland, married, and that was the end of that! i always have wondered, were there no repurcussions for that?

I've never read anything about people who "skipped out on their servitude", but I suppose it might not have been a very appealing prospect for people with no money and no place to live.

should consider they may have slave owners in the family tree.

Many (possibly all) Louisiana slave owners had non white children. So far, I have found two branches who participated in the enslavement of Africans. I was not in the least surprised. A bit saddened to know I had greedy clueless ancestors, but not surprised.

As also was demonstrated in the Who Do You Think You Are? series, there were free men of color who owned slaves. The example they gave was interesting -- it appeared that a freeman bought his aging parents after the state law changed to prohibit the freeing of slaves. In essence, he bought their freedom by "buying" them as slaves.

Especially the episode with Kyra Sedgewick and Kevin Bacon. Kyra Sedgewick is descended from the attorney who represented the slave whose case got slavery outlawed in Massachusetts.

http://video.pbs.org/video/2220828439

There are a number of full episodes available at that link, but the link is for the particular episode mentioned above.

When I lived in Boston I used to see him sometimes in Harvard Square.

isn't young enough. This was on Friday evenings 7pm and who under 18-27 is going to be watching TV at that hour?

So they take good shows off and try something else and the under 27 are still not going to watch during that time period and they ticked off people like me who don't watch the replacement show on principal.

You aren't going to get people in that age group to watch TV at certain times no matter what show you air. Also many people between 18-27 just don't watch broadcast television anymore. If there is something they want to see, they stream it on their computers or iPads at the time that is convenient for them.

people over 24 years old buy things?

I often wondered why advertisers only show an interest in one demographic and in this economy, that age group doesn't really have the money to spend anyway.

a few weeks ago, I have heard that it is being shopped around on cable networks, so there is a possibility that it might return or perhaps be re-started as a mid season replacement. One never knows just what might happen in the land of TV.

You know that Ancestry.com would love to see the show continue. It is an hour of advertising for them. I wonder how many viewers signed up for Ancestry memberships because of the show.

2nd not so much. Spending so much on a single line because it's the more juicy story was kind of meh to me. Just because someone was a serf doesn't mean there not important part of someone's lineage.

I only have Netflix and iTunes, hope the PBS show becomes available there sometime!

I really like seeing several branches on a tree. The Martin Sheen one was excellent, finding ancestors on both his mother and father's side that had similar life stories.

Some of PBS's episodes are available online: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/ -Its a very different format from Who Do You Think You Are, which doesn't mean its better or worse, just different.